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brooklynite

(96,882 posts)
Wed Feb 22, 2023, 02:32 PM Feb 2023

James Webb telescope detects evidence of ancient 'universe breaker' galaxies

Source: The Guardian

The James Webb space telescope has detected what appear to be six massive ancient galaxies, which astronomers are calling “universe breakers” because their existence could upend current theories of cosmology.

The objects date to a time when the universe was just 3% of its current age and are far larger than was presumed possible for galaxies so early after the big bang. If confirmed, the findings would call into question scientists’ understanding of how the earliest galaxies formed.

“These objects are way more massive​ than anyone expected,” said Joel Leja, an assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University and a study co-author. “We expected only to find tiny, young, baby galaxies at this point in time, but we’ve discovered galaxies as mature as our own in what was previously understood to be the dawn of the universe.”

The observations come from the first dataset released from Nasa’s James Webb space telescope, which is equipped with infrared-sensing instruments capable of detecting light emitted by the most ancient stars and galaxies. While sifting through images, Dr Erica Nelson, of the University of Colorado Boulder, and a co-author, spotted a series of “fuzzy dots” that appeared unusually bright and unusually red.



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/22/universe-breakers-james-webb-telescope-detects-six-ancient-galaxies
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James Webb telescope detects evidence of ancient 'universe breaker' galaxies (Original Post) brooklynite Feb 2023 OP
"...spotted a series of "fuzzy dots" that appeared unusually bright and unusually red" LudwigPastorius Feb 2023 #1
Still no picture of an old white man with a beard laying on a cloud? Ray Bruns Feb 2023 #2
Lol GB_RN Feb 2023 #3
Thanks for posting this, brooklynite! Talitha Feb 2023 #4
I stopped believing decades ago wolfie001 Feb 2023 #5
Tiny, young, baby galaxies.... Bayard Feb 2023 #6
Perhaps the Big Bang is not quite what we thought tinrobot Feb 2023 #7
Those ancient galaxies were home to the Magratheans nuxvomica Feb 2023 #8
Maybe the multiverse are like plasma bubbles Javaman Feb 2023 #9
How exciting for cosmologists and others. Hortensis Feb 2023 #10
Steady-state, BAYBEEEEE!!! ZZenith Feb 2023 #11
Its important alongside the humour to appreciate one thing... Layzeebeaver Feb 2023 #12
Fascinating and mind boggling. Joinfortmill Feb 2023 #13
How do they date melm00se Feb 2023 #14
They first invite them out for coffee. friend of a friend Feb 2023 #15
Oops I replied to the thread instead of your post. blugbox Feb 2023 #17
The math is beyond me but lookup redshift jgmiller Feb 2023 #18
Cosmological redshift blugbox Feb 2023 #16
The answer is... honest.abe Feb 2023 #19
This may be where the balloons came from Kaleva Feb 2023 #20
We are like tiny ants standing on a curb in Times Square, tavernier Feb 2023 #21

LudwigPastorius

(13,639 posts)
1. "...spotted a series of "fuzzy dots" that appeared unusually bright and unusually red"
Wed Feb 22, 2023, 02:55 PM
Feb 2023

Maybe somebody was just having a cigarette after that Big Bang.

tinrobot

(11,825 posts)
7. Perhaps the Big Bang is not quite what we thought
Wed Feb 22, 2023, 04:50 PM
Feb 2023

It'll be interesting to see how the cosmologists correct the theories to account for these galaxies.

nuxvomica

(13,704 posts)
8. Those ancient galaxies were home to the Magratheans
Wed Feb 22, 2023, 05:22 PM
Feb 2023

Douglas Adams had this all figured out a while ago.

Javaman

(64,685 posts)
9. Maybe the multiverse are like plasma bubbles
Wed Feb 22, 2023, 05:51 PM
Feb 2023

And occasionally bump into each other sharing galaxies.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
10. How exciting for cosmologists and others.
Wed Feb 22, 2023, 05:59 PM
Feb 2023

This means wonderful new explorations and new opportunities. To boldly go where no mind has gone before... Or something like that.

Layzeebeaver

(2,102 posts)
12. Its important alongside the humour to appreciate one thing...
Wed Feb 22, 2023, 08:21 PM
Feb 2023

and that is...

If this sensor data turns out to be accurate it will be an incredible impact to astrophysics and likely a lot of other stuff as well.

Perhaps a few large ripples to human understanding of the edge cases of core physics. It really could change thinking.

It will be interesting to see how the 'physics media stars' make their early attempts to explain it.

jgmiller

(655 posts)
18. The math is beyond me but lookup redshift
Sat Feb 25, 2023, 09:28 PM
Feb 2023

It's the degree to which the infared spectrum shifts that determines distance and therefore the time the light has been traveling which then tells you age.

blugbox

(955 posts)
16. Cosmological redshift
Sat Feb 25, 2023, 06:58 PM
Feb 2023

The universe's expansion stretches light as it travels through space. The more redshift, the further away and thus, older, the galaxies are. Pretty amazing stuff!

tavernier

(14,027 posts)
21. We are like tiny ants standing on a curb in Times Square,
Sun Feb 26, 2023, 12:00 AM
Feb 2023

determining the size of the universe by what we can see as we look up.

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